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A rattle in the Valley
Lawless in Punjab |
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Habemus Papam
Ideology disappearing in politics
A symbiotic relationship
A humble man, now the Pope
Continuation of the past & hope of different future
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A rattle in the Valley
After
a steady improvement in the security situation in Kashmir — a virtual lull by Valley standards — the suicide attack that killed five CRPF jawans has come as a rude reminder that terror works just when we begin to feel secure. It’s not gone till it’s gone, as they say. Initial suspicion is the two attackers had Pakistan connection. Given their apparent training and motivation level, that is very likely. That has to be kept in sight while determining how we look at the attack, coming as it does amidst the tension over the hanging of Afzal Guru. Suicide attacks are difficult to prevent, and will in most cases end up doing some damage before these are neutralised. In this case too the killings happened in the first wave of firing. The only defence against such attempts is prevention. In Kashmir, that means not letting trained militants cross over from POK. As the snow melts, the vigil on the LoC has to be maintained as tight as it was at the peak of militancy. It is true the relative lack of militant activity in the past couple of years has led to the security forces letting their guard down a notch or two, especially in the civilian areas of the Valley, with weapon-carrying norms and security restrictions being altered to let people feel more at peace. The standard operating procedures of the forces may need a review in this context. The attack should, however, not make us react in panic, and the response has to be measured. Terror succeeds not from killing people but by the ‘terror’ it creates among those witness to it. And in the times of the media, the entire country is witness. The visible security relaxations as well as political and confidence-building measures under way in Kashmir should not suffer a setback in kneejerk reaction. One attack does not warrant any immediate change in policy. It could well be a lucky strike for the terrorists. A thorough assessment of the security situation and the adversaries’ potential has to be made before any steps are taken. Meanwhile, the various political parties in the state — much exercised over the issue of return of Afzal Guru’s body — would do a service to the people if they do not contribute to inflamed passions.
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Lawless in Punjab
Newspapers
so often use words like "pandemonium", "free for all" and "bedlam" to describe the unruly conduct of people's elected representatives in Indian legislatures that their effect has got diluted. However, what happened in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday makes rushing to the well, staging walkouts and shouting slogans look like gentlemanly acts. Punjab Congress legislators led by Sunil Jakhar lost all sense of balance, beat up security personnel and captured the Speaker's chair. Ironically, they had all come "prepared" to focus the House's attention on growing lawlessness in the state. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal aptly called it "a day of national disgrace". The Speaker has rightly suspended nine Congress legislators. Complaints have also been lodged with the Chandigarh police. The Congress had enough ammunition to fire at the government. The Tarn Taran police's "animal behaviour", reflected in the brutal assault on a girl, was flashed by TV channels, attracting nationwide condemnation and prompting the Supreme Court to ask for the state's explanation. However, Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil Jakhar's ill-conceived idea of squeezing more political mileage out of it by bringing the girl and her father to the assembly has apparently backfired. The Speaker is within his right to remove any unauthorised person from the Vidhan Sabha. Maybe the security men could have been more discreet and polite in carrying out the order to show the door to the unwanted visitors. But that is the way policemen act in Punjab - inside the House or outside. If the Congress leaders really wanted to help the aggrieved girl, they could have raised in the assembly her demand for action against other policemen involved in the attack and caught on camera. But they acted like "a leaderless mob" and ransacked the place regarded as a sacred symbol of democracy. In the last session two Congress and Akali leaders had abused each other. But the Congress needlessly - and thoughtlessly -- telecast the expletives of the Akali leader at public places. State Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa has not only to contain infighting in the party but also discipline senior leaders.
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Habemus Papam
We
have a Pope,” rather “Habemus Papam”, said the French cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran. The world then saw the new head of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Francis is known for his humility and his love for the poor. Indeed, the very title that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina chose for himself as Pope indicates that. St Francis of Assisi was known for his passion to serve the poor. That the new religious head of the 120 crore Catholics comes from Latin America is also significant since the majority of followers of the Catholic Church are from this region. While the Syrian-born Pope Gregory III was the first non-European Pope in the eighth century, the new Pope is the first one from Latin America, and indeed the first non-European Pope in the modern era. While many will look for signs of change from the new Pope, and there are already some departures from tradition, a look at his record shows that Cardinal Bergoglio, who belongs to the Jesuit order, is theologically conservative and supportive of the Vatican’s positions on major issues. He is against abortion, gay marriage and the ordination of women. However, the energy with which he has devoted himself to his flock as Archbishop of Buenos Aires has often been praised. Pope Francis will have a tough job ahead of him. The Catholic Church has been seen as an organisation facing the pressure of modernisation. It has been scarred by child sex abuse scandals and in recent years, also by infighting, even corruption in the Vatican bureaucracy. The new pontiff is not a Vatican insider. This could well be to his advantage as he uses his dedication, energy and skills to clean up what his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, called the “filth” in the church. Pope Francis must build on his known love for the poor and his association with the area that has the largest number of Catholics in the world to leave a lasting legacy.
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In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. —Thomas Jefferson
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Ideology disappearing in politics The Indian political party scene is getting more and more crowded as sundry new entrants enter the field. The Anna
Hazare movement split because a section led by Arvind Kejriwal wished to enter the political field. And now we have word from the Baba Ramdev camp that he too wants to try his luck in politics without, of course, giving up his main career of being a guru, admittedly with a penchant for political theatre. Behind the new entrants’ enthusiasm to take the political road lies a simple truth, the realisation that power flows from the ballot box. Civil society agitation is legitimate and inspiring up to a point, whether it highlights the evil of corruption or the indignity and humiliation of women that are a consequence of our patriarchal society. But though Anna can set the nation abuzz with his large Delhi rallies and make the government sit up, enthusiasm ebbs and the very sense of momentary power compels participants to seek greater glory through the political route. Candidly, political power provides valuable protection for legal acts and often a cover for illegal activities until they are found out and become public issues. Identity politics is now an accepted fact of the Indian political system and particularly at the provincial level; many shady characters enter the political arena to protect their selfish causes. A debate on the virtues of harbouring members of state assemblies and Parliament charged with, but not convicted of, crimes rages without hope of an early resolution. India’s experience in parliamentary democracy has shown that ideology, even of the amorphous Gandhian variety or the once socialist kind, counts for less and less. The Congress as the mother party of Indian independence splintered, as was inevitable. Leaders formed parties ostensibly on ideological grounds or, increasingly, around caste formations. But even lateral movement of leaders did not breach the wall of the Jan Sangh, the forerunner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had proclaimed itself as the party with a difference. And movement of leaders among the Left parties was between the two main varieties and the many offshoots with elaborate names. It is now common to see the movement of Congress leaders to the BJP and the BJP leaders seeking the shelter of the Congress. Despite the Congress ideology of pitting secularism against what it describes as communalism (read Hindutva), the mother party seems to have veered towards a softer Hindutva version. In any case, opportunism, rather than ideology, is the order of the day. In the strict sense of the word, opportunism is also the motto of those seeking salvation in politics. Perhaps this is the prevailing trend in the world, with the Communist ideology, once such a strong international force, dying its natural death with the fall of the Soviet Union. Most of the devoted communists and ideologues India produced belong to a bygone era and there is an element of unreality about the familiar communist and Left slogans mouthed by our leaders and their followers today. The influx of new members into the political stream is to be welcomed as long as their ends are not purely self-serving. Democratic politics has space for all provided they participate in it to promote legitimate ends. Here lies the rub because money power and sectional interests often prevail in contests with more deserving candidates. The strength of a democracy is that in the end unscrupulous and shady elements meet their Waterloo, but the process can be long and frustrating. Taking the examples of Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party (AAM) and Ramdev’s potential party, what can we expect of the two? In the former’s case, the platform is clear: it is to be a vigilante party with an accent on ferreting and rooting out corruption and corrupt practices and frame codes for clean and good government. It has other ambitions to bring about greater social equity, but its emphasis on big themes and major alleged wrongdoing by the rich and the powerful is to capitalise on the spectacular to secure public prominence and free publicity. Like the traditional popular tabloids, it seeks to shock to seek salience for itself. This tactic can only represent the first phase of the Aam Admi Party because tabloid scoops are proverbially transient, consumed and forgotten. And if the AAM makes a habit of projecting a scoop a day, it would begin to pall. In any event, Mr Kejriwal’s organisation is still very much a work in progress. One would hope that it would promote a more comprehensive set of policies that would lead to a more honest and
inclusive society. Ramdev, of course, has still to spell out his political aims. For a time, he was basking in the glow of the Anna movement in its heyday and was hobnobbing with opposition parties such as the BJP. In essence, he is seeking to use his large following for his yoga and spiritual practices as vote banks in the hope that it will propel his chosen candidates to power. To an extent, he has a common base with the BJP but if he begins to poach in the latter field, there would inevitably be a conflict of interests. The BJP’s mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is zealous in guarding its space and would not welcome an intruder. These are early days yet but the rush to be counted as political formations is on and the Election Commission will have an even more arduous task in policing parties going to polls. India once prided itself on separating religion from the state. But the distance between the two has been shrinking over the years and decades. If caste is increasingly the implied leitmotif of political parties, religion is an obvious factor in the existence of a number of parties. Once Ramdev enters the field, he would have added a new spiritual element to the mix. In a sense, the BJP’s Hindutva slogan has been treading on sensitive ground but it has sought to justify its plank – more or less depending on circumstances – on its concept of all residents of India being Hindus. Presumably, Baba Ramdev will propagate that his spiritualism is
universal.
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A symbiotic relationship We all have read and heard so much about England that we know a lot about it without ever going there. But those who have lived there will vouch for the perfect co-existence — or should I say — a beautiful relationship between humans and the birds in that country. I was in Torque — Devon, the South-West county of the UK –better known as the birthplace of Agatha Christie. The legacy of the house my son-in-law purchased there included two majestic cat sized pigeons. A bag full of bird seed hung on the door of their one-room apartment nailed firmly to the wall. The previous owner of the house left written instructions about the care, likes and dislikes of the two pigeons. They had aptly named them too. The male bird was called Hoover because he was very particular about picking up all the seeds fallen on the ground, and his lady love was
called Juliet. Due to the close proximity of the sea the seagulls are in abundance in the whole of the country — especially the coastal areas like Devon. And they are protected by law. In hoards they swim and walk around on the beaches, side by side with the bathers, fearless and confident, fully aware of their legal rights. The house we lived in had a small fish pond — a treat for the sea gulls. Two or three of them would always be found loitering around the pond and the poor fish had to remain hidden at the bottom. Ultimately the pond had to be covered by a wire mesh. The birds need to know their
limits too. Think of London and you think of Trafalgar Square full of pigeons. Due to the obvious reasons the authorities might have banned the feeding of pigeons at Trafalgar Square, but the unlettered birds have not read about it and still abound around the place some of them shifting their abode to nearby buildings and well taken care of by the tourists. But you can be fully sure that the black ravens of the London Tower are properly fed and looked after because of the prophesy that the day they leave the tower will also be the end of the present dynasty (and who knows the end of the monarchy too.) Talking of prophesy, the British are more superstitious than we care to believe. The famed city of Liverpool derives its name from the bird Liver (to be pronounced rhyming with driver) and two huge Liver birds made of fine stone guard the city perched on a high building facing north and south.. Don’t forget, the birds can turn their necks 90 degrees and so all the four directions are fully taken care of. Again, the belief is that the day Liver birds abandon the city will also be the end of Liverpool. Everyone loves the city he has been born and brought up in. The inhabitants of Liverpool are no exceptions and they are taking no chances. Liver is a mythical bird, so there is no need of protecting the real ones. But these two metal birds are firmly tied to their perches with thick iron chains. What better and easier way to ensure the security of your beloved city! But I am sure the inhabitants sleep peacefully for
that.
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A humble man, now the Pope The
extent of the revolution which has just taken place in the Catholic Church was evident when the new Pope stepped out on to the balcony of St Peter’s around an hour after the white smoke had emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and the mighty bells of the Vatican pealed out. The world had had a few seconds to prepare itself. The French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran who made the announcement Habemus Papem — in medieval Latin revealed two things. The first was the name Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The second was the name he had chosen — Francis. With the name Bergoglio, we knew some decisive changes had been set in train. The Archbishop of Buenos Aires is the first non-European pope for 1,000 years. He is the first pope from the New World, most specifically from Latin America where the majority of the planet’s 1.2 billion Catholics live. He is the first pope ever from the Jesuits, the order renowned for having produced some of the most intellectually profound, and often free-thinking, church minds over the centuries. With the name Francis came a signal of another new departure. No pope had ever before taken the name of the great saint of the poor, Francis of Assisi. And Bergoglio was known for his commitment to social justice and his championing of the poor of his native Argentina in the teeth of a global economic crisis whose cost fell chiefly upon the shoulders of the most vulnerable. Bergoglio, it was known, was a humble man who had moved out of his archiepiscopal palace and into a simple apartment. He gave up his chauffeur-driven car and takes the bus to work. He cooks his own meals. But it was when he stepped out on to the balcony that the true weight of the change became evident to the world. There was none of the double-handed boxer’s salute with which Benedict XVI had celebrated his triumph. Instead, in plain white, wearing the simplest of crosses, he gave a single wave to St Peter’s Square and then stood and just looked. He was the Bishop of Rome presenting himself to the people of Rome. He began with a quotidian Good Evening — and then made his gentle joke. He asked those watching him to pray for his predecessor, a pope emeritus, a massive departure in itself. And then he said the “Our Father”. Tradition has it that he offers the city and the world a blessing, urbi et orbi. But before he did that he said to the people; “I need to ask you a favour.” He asked that, before he blessed them, the people should pray for him first. He asked them to do it in silence, another departure. And he bowed his great head and shoulders before the crowd to receive their prayer. In a few short moments, packed with symbolism of so many kinds, Pope Francis signalled that things are going to be rather different. The secular world should not make the mistake of thinking he will change what Rome says on the raft of interwoven issues which separate the worldview of the church and our increasingly secularised society. This is a man who spoke out strongly against Argentina’s recent legalisation of gay marriage. He says that gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children. He opposes abortion and euthanasia. He even holds to church teaching that artificial contraception is wrong. The truth is that a conclave of cardinals, all appointed by the conservative popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, were never going to elect anyone who did not hold the line on all that. Yet in Pope Francis they have made an inspired and original choice. Administration and governance are not his strongest suits, so he will need to chose shrewdly the men with whom he must surround himself to break the arrogant self-serving system of entrenched hierarchical clerical privilege which has bedevilled the Vatican for so long. But he will have no truck with those who seek to cover up child sex abuse in a misguided attempt to protect the reputation of a church on which it has merely brought scandal and a crisis of moral authority. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a man of prayer, of deep spirituality, personal humility, pastoral warmth and attractive simplicity. He is not a man afraid of radical choices. It is hard to think that the cardinals could have chosen better. — The Independent
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Continuation of the past & hope of different future
In the days running up to this week’s Papal Conclave I did a brief ring round of Catholics about what the Church needed from the man who would become the 266th Pope. The most eloquent response came from an elderly priest who used just two words: “A miracle”. Whatever end of the spectrum they stand in — be they the type who pines for a radical theological revolution or insists on a continuation of orthodox consistency — most Catholics know their church is in trouble. They are more than aware that they need a Pontiff who will genuinely make his mark in history. The list of trials facing Catholicism is as long as it is daunting: plummeting church attendance and a massive shortage of new priests in the secular West; a widening theological chasm between the developed and developing world over what is socially acceptable; inter-religious animosity and distrust; the seemingly ever-recurring sex abuse scandals and a Vatican bureaucracy that all but the most naďve of commentators will admit is riven with corruption, incompetence and political infighting. How Pope Francis will prioritise these problems remains to be seen but he will need to tackle them nonetheless. Pope Francis is both a continuation of the past and something very different. Theologically he is an orthodox conservative like his predecessor. No-one will be expecting him to take the Catholic Church into a brave new world where homosexuality is suddenly accepted and women are ordained. But he is a radical choice in so many other ways. Most will concentrate on the firsts — the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit and the first Francis. But his real radicalism lies elsewhere. Above all he is no Vatican insider, unlike so many of the supposed frontrunners, and is serious about a major overhaul of the bureaucrats in Rome. He also lives a deeply ascetic life, cooking his own meals and taking the bus to work. Compared to those who spend their time surrounded by the obscene wealth concentrated in Rome, Cardinal Bergoglio will be able to genuinely sympathise and empathise with the world’s poor like no other recent Pope. His national heritage also gives the Catholic Church a much needed boost of geo-political realism. It finally has a leader who hails from the developing world, where the vast majority of the world’s Catholics live and where the Church is actually expanding. But might this handicap him when it comes to confronting secularism in the West? Part of the reason Benedict XVI was elected Pope was his determination to “re-evangelise” those areas of the world — particularly in Europe and North America — where religion has gone from being the protagonist to a cameo. He never had time to carry out his dream. Bergoglio has a distinctly evangelical flavour, but will he stop what the Vatican sees as the rot in the West? Ironically it is in increasingly secular countries like Britain where practising Catholic populations and clergy numbers have plummeted in recent decades that the nature and character of the next Pope could have the most profound effect. If Rome’s new head reigns for as long as John Paul II, the chances are he will either be remembered for halting the decline of Catholicism in the secular world — or failing to stop it altogether. —
The Independent
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The conclave of cardinals has made an inspired and original choice in electing Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis
